December 16, 2014
Prime Minister Hun Sen returned from South Korea on Monday having
struck a series of deals with Seoul, including an agreement to explore
the creation of a South Korean-funded agricultural university in
Cambodia, according to one of Mr. Hun Sen’s advisers.
Speaking to reporters at Phnom Penh International Airport upon Mr.
Hun Sen’s return, Kao Kim Hourn, a minister attached to the prime
minister, said the premier used the occasion of the Asean-South Korea
summit to ask the Korea International Cooperation Agency (Koica) to fund
a new University of Rural Development.
“The request of the prime minister was to construct a University of
Rural Development via a grant from Koica,” he said. “Mrs. President
[Park Geun-Hye] said she would assign a working group to work with our
Cambodian side.”
Mr. Kim Hourn also said Mr. Hun Sen requested that Koica support training centers in Cambodia.
“The prime minister requested assistance in creating technology and
productivity centers in Cambodia, including Korean language
training…which will be requested through grants from Koica,” he said.
Mr. Kim Hourn added that the prime minister suggested to Ms. Park
that any such assistance be provided in loans and interest-free grants.
“The prime minister requested that the Korean government consider
providing 40 percent of grants through a financial package,” he told
reporters.
In June, South Korea signed off on $21 million worth of aid to
Cambodia for 2014, including $8 million for a project following the
Saemaul Undong, or “New Community,” approach to developing farming
communities based on traditional Korean communalism.
A further $2.5 million was pledged for the development of the
Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX), 45 percent of which is owned by the
South Korean stock exchange.
During Monday’s press briefing, Mr. Kim Hourn said Mr. Hun Sen also
asked Ms. Park to consider ways to open her country’s borders to more
Cambodian migrant workers, and promote bilateral trade, which he said
grew from $538 million in 2011 to $750 million last year.
“There is no limitation on the number, but what we want is for them
to increase the number of workers,” he said. “For example, we now have
35,000 workers [in South Korea], so it could rise to 40,000 or 45,000 or
50,000.”
While in Seoul, Mr. Hun Sen also presided over the signing of five
memoranda of understanding between the two countries that included
agreements on education, young entrepreneurs, health care, intellectual
property rights and retail prices, according to Mr. Kim Hourn, who
declined to go into detail about the pacts.
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